An optical quantum computer has the potential to streamline energy-efficient techniques and engineer new drugs, according to Australian National University (ANU). Now that technology is one step closer, thanks to an international team of researchers who developed a vital component—an optical microchip.
“The research team developed the first optical microchip to generate, manipulate, and detect a particular state of light called squeezed vacuum, which is essential for quantum computation. An optical microchip has most of the basic functionality required for creating future quantum computers,” according to ANU.
The microchip is 1.5 cm wide, 5 cm long, and 0.5 cm thick. Its internal component interact with light, and are connected by small channels known as waveguides. Similar to wires within a circuit, the waveguides help shepherd the traveling light around the microchip.
“What we have demonstrated with this device is an important technological step toward making an optical quantum computer, which will solve certain problems much faster than today’s computers,” says co-researcher Professor Elanor Huntington, dean of the ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science, and program manager for the ARC Centre of Excellence for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology.
University of Munster’s Dr. Francesco Lenzini, lead author of the team’s paper published in Science Advances, outlines how this new development integrates three key optical quantum computing components.
“This experiment is the first to integrate three of the basic steps needed for an optical quantum computer, which are the generation of quantum states of light, their manipulation in a fast and reconfigurable way, and their detection,” says Dr. Lenzini.
In addition to drug development and energy-saving methods, optical quantum computing can also help with speedy database searches and complex mathematical problem solving, according to Associate Professor Mirko Lobino from Griffith University.